Local foods - surrounded by friends
In my time working on local foods, there has been a steady drumbeat of antagonism from local foods advocates against the perceived damage being done to their cause from larger food businesses. In fact, no one seems to have taken a vote on how we assign 'sides' in this discussion. The larger food businesses and organizations I've dealt with over the years have almost uniformly supported local food initiatives. While their scale and mission often don't match up directly with specific local food causes, the people in these larger food companies almost always are available to help and grow their industry. So we have this unnecessary split in a business that's vital to everyone in the world. This is a profoundly dumb time and place to be behaving this way. Larger food companies have fought through the market forces that hold back small businesses. They have the people power, the supply chains, and the momentum to help the entire food enterprise - small and la